Kinetic temperature gradient driven modes in inhomogeneous plasmas
arXiv:physics/0111156
Abstract
New unstable temperature gradient driven modes in an inhomogeneous plasma are identified. These modes represent transient $Ï\simeq k_{\Vert }v_{th}^{(e,i)}$ sound oscillations in magnetized plasma that are kinetically destabilized via Landau interactions. Electron and ion sound branches are unstable for large values of the Larmor radius parameter $% k_{\bot}Ï_{e,i}\gg 1,$ respectively. The instability occurs due to a specific plasma response that significantly deviates from Boltzmann distribution in the region $k_{\bot}Ï_{i,e}\gg 1$ . Pacs: 52.35 Kt, 52.35 Qz
10 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letters